Kindness Covers Almost Everything

❂ In case of a conflict with other tenets, “Be Kind” is the overriding rule.

❂ Be kind to everyone and to society at large.

❂ Defined: civil, considerate, helpful, generous, pleasant

❂ Kindness covers most moral laws. Don’t kill, steal, damage other people’s property, etc. A habit of kindness trumps memorizing all the rules.

❂ “Be Kind” includes anything for which the opposite is unkind: honesty, dependability, having a good work ethic, keeping clean, being fair and just, keeping your music down, etc.

❂ Enemies of kindness include:

• “I don’t care what anyone else thinks”
• “I’m just trying to have a good time”
• “Looking out for number one”

❂ A small kindness should never prevent a greater one. Something might be kind to a particular person, but not to others or to society at large.

• Saving the life of a killer might be kind to him, but not to his future victims.
• It might be more kind to provide a meal to a hungry person than to give him money.

Behave With Consequences In Mind

❂ We live in an increasingly crowded world. Almost all our actions affect other people. Behaving responsibly is another way of being kind (see #1).

❂ Act responsibly with regard to health, finances, the environment, neighbors, and friends.

❂ Be habitually judicious, thoughtful, careful and considerate in all things.

❂ Finances: “I want it” or “It’s cool” aren’t reasons to spend money. They are reasons to consider spending money. It’s the consideration part that so many forget. Do I need it? Will it help? How long will it last? Are there continuing costs?

❂ Environment: read more here

❂ Includes conversational responsibility. Endeavor to elevate any conversation to a higher plane. Be civil, even during disagreements.

Learn As Much As You Can

❂ Learn from books, from your mistakes, from other people’s mistakes.

❂ There is little excuse for being ignorant; information is everywhere.

❂ Learn to differentiate between data, information, and facts.

❂ Judge carefully sources of information. Some are more reliable than others.

Extremism Is For Cretins

❂ Sometimes called temperance, restraint, or self-control. Here, I use it in the sense of avoiding extremes. A thinking person can understand that one extreme or another is rarely the right thing.

❂ My own quote: “The answer is almost always somewhere in the middle.”

T.M.A.D. — Think, Make A Decision

❂ You don’t need others to make your decisions. You are capable of considering the available information, making a decision that’s as informed as possible, and then living with the consequences of that decision.

❂ This could rightly be considered a sub-point of “Be Responsible”. However, it requires you to “Be Learned” for it to work well.